Topological collapse of higher-order interactions bottlenecks collective intelligence in AI agent societies

Summary

The strongest available large-scale empirical statement of the paper's core claim that structure, not individual model capability, is the binding constraint on collective epistemic output. Using a platform of 1.6 million registered agents (174,458 active), plus 1,040 controlled simulations across 22 frontier models from ten vendors and human comparison networks, the authors document 'topological collapse': hub dominance degrades higher-order group interactions into star-shaped broadcast patterns, killing the cohesive structure that discontinuous social contagion requires. Critically, the topological indicators are invariant across models under a fixed protocol while behavioural outcomes diverge, which is exactly the identification argument the paper needs to attribute epistemic quality to architecture rather than to the backbone. Formalised via a Hyperedge Irreducibility Score and an analytical topology amplification factor.

Contribution

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Method

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Relevance to RISE

Surfaced by the 2026-09-07 literature sweep as a high-priority candidate for the Architecture as Epistemology (ISR) paper (angle: MAS topology / structure vs. aggregation rule; correlated errors / homogeneity across LLM agents). Verified against: Opened https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.15519 and read the full abstract, seven-author list, submission date 16 Aug 2026, primary category cs.SI, and the code link at github.com/Darwin-Agent/topological-collapse-agent-societies. Slightly before the Aug 25 window boundary but reported per the allowed overlap.

Critique / open questions

Queued — not yet assessed.

Key quotes

Current paradigms in artificial intelligence concentrate on scaling the capabilities of individual models, yet the collective behaviour of interacting agents is shaped by the topology of their interactions rather than by individual cognition alone. (abstract)

Here we show that the binding constraint on collective behaviour in agent societies is topological. (abstract)